Spanish Hotel Industry Leadership on Climate Change Mitigation

This is a preprint of a book chapter to be published in Environmental Leadership: A Reference Handbook (Ed. Gallagher, D.R.). 2012. Ferrón Vilchez, V., De la Torre Ruiz, J.M., Ortiz de Mandojana, N., Aguilera

Carauel, J. Volume 2. Pages: 617-620. SAGE Publishing©. ISBN: 978-1-4129-8150-7. DOI: 10.4135/9781452218601.n65

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Chapter 65: Spanish Hotel Industry Leadership on

Climate Change Mitigation

Vera Ferrón-Vílchez1

José Manuel De la Torre-Ruiz1

Natalia Ortiz de Mandojana1

Javier Aguilera Caracuel1

1 University of Granada

Abstract

Due to environmental concerns in general and climate change in special are

increasing their importance in the current business context, in this chapter it is

analyzed how competitive advantage could be achieved by means of the

implementation of advanced environmental practices. An in-depth analysis about a

case study focused on Spanish hotel industry exemplifies the achievement of

environmental leadership by examining their implemented practices and

initiatives related to the protection of the natural environment.



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Spanish Hotel Industry Leadership on Climate Change Mitigation

1. Introduction.

Environmental problems such as climate change have arisen in the last

decades, what have increased public concern and companies’ interest on

environmental issues over the last few years (Banerjee, 2001). Apart from its

obvious harmful consequences on natural environment and human life, global

warming may also have very negative effects on business activity and economic

growth. In this sense, firms are in the spotlight because the environment is affected

by business activity through the consumption of materials and utilities and the

generation of waste and emissions. This circumstance produces that climate

change may become a threat for the survival of companies that do not accurately

take into account these negative environmental impacts. For instance, stringent

environmental regulations may imply increases in costs derived from penalties

and fines for noncompliance.

However, at the same time environmental management also may become a

source of competitive advantage. Through an effective environmental

management, companies may improve their image (Chen, 2008; Christmann,

2004), reduce costs and consequently increase the efficiency of production

processes and improve the quality of the products (e.g., Christmann, 2000; Hart,

1995).

This fact encourages companies to develop a set of internal characteristics

that allows them to undertake a proactive environmental strategy (Aragón-Correa,

1998; Aragón-Correa and Sharma, 2003; Christmann, 2004), understanding this

type of strategies as “systematic patterns of voluntary practices that go beyond

regulatory requirements, for instance in terms of waste reduction and prevention

of pollution at source” (Aragón-Correa and Rubio-López, 2007:358).

Related to environmental leadership, those companies which adopt a

proactive environmental strategy are considered as environmental leaders

because they attempt to develop innovative business solutions to environmental



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problems and this fact evidences business excellence (Roome, 1992). Companies

may profit from adopting an environmental leadership strategy by means of their

potential for becoming a source of competitive advantage (Porter, 1985; Hart,

1995) for two main reasons. On the one hand, research on environmental

management, grounded in a resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1991), has

widely contributed to showing the potential that proactive environmental

management might hold for generating valuable organizational abilities related to

cost reduction due to (1) avoiding future expenses in environmental penalties and

fines, (2) reducing the investment in costly pollution control technologies and (3)

by improving business productivity and efficiency because less of the inputs are

emitted as waste. On the other hand, developing an environmental reputation may

be an effective way for companies to differentiate themselves over competitors

because the implementation of environmental management practices may increase

a company’s external legitimacy with clients, suppliers and other economic agents

(Bansal, 2005). Thus,, by enhancing their external legitimacy and addressing

stakeholders’ demands, companies may improve their reputational benefits and

increase sales, both of which translate into improved business performance (Hart,

1995; Aragón-Correa, 1998; Rueda- Manzanares, Aragón-Correa and Martín Tapia,

2006). In sum, all these circumstances promote firms to obtain an environmental

leader position within their industry.

Taking into account all these expected benefits, this chapter is focused on the

hotel industry, specifically on a case study in the Spanish hotel sector: the business

group “El Fuerte Hotels”. Regarding this sector, an environmental leadership

position may be really appealing in terms of both cost reduction and

differentiation over competitors. For instance, this organization is a group of

ecological hotels which exemplifies how companies could utilize several innovative

and environment-related processes both in the hotel’s construction and in its daily

business. “El Fuerte Hotels” is a clear example of an environmental leader in the

hotel industry because this case highlights how companies could simultaneously

protect the environment and profit from the challenge of facing environmental

issues in general, and the climate change in particular. This chapter shows several

activities that might be followed by companies to carry out this position of



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environmental leadership through integrating environmental issues into the

corporate strategy.

Further, public agents will be able to design special programmes, incentives

and policies in order to encourage companies to simultaneously implement

profitable management activities and develop socially responsible attitudes

towards the protection of the natural environment and the prevention of climate

change.

2. The importance of addressing climate change by companies.

Nowadays several environmental problems such as climate change have

arisen, what have increased public concern and firms’ interest on environmental

issues over the last few years. The United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (1994) defines climate change as "a change of climate which is

attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the

global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed

over comparable time periods”. Global warning may have several negative impacts

that directly affect economic activities. Thus, it is not surprising that in the last few

years, this issue has garnered a great deal of social attention. With regard to the

direct link between this problem and business activity, companies are increasingly

taking into account environmental issues at all organisational levels (Banerjee,

2001).

Strategies that companies may adopt to face climate change –as well as other

environmental problems, may differ in their degree of proactivity, understanding

this concept as the “company’s tendency to initiate changes in its various strategies

policies rather than to react to events” (Aragón-Correa, 1998: 557). In this sense

environmental strategy of the firm may be considered as a continuum that range

from a position of noncompliance to a position of environmental leadership

(Roome, 1992).

Scholars have pointed out how the effects of climate change may become a

threat for companies to the extent that more stringent environmental regulations

may imply increases in costs derived from penalties and fines for noncompliance.

Therefore, climate change could imply an important threat for reactive companies



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- those which adopt strategies not beyond legal requirements, to the extent that

these companies won’t be able to internalize and anticipate the negative effects for

two main reasons. First, reactive companies may not be able to quickly and

effectively address stricter regulations related to climate change mitigation.

Second, as a consequence of this lack of proactivity, reactive companies will have

to transfer increases in costs, for example, by increasing in final price of their

products or services in detriment of their competitive position such as, for

example, losses of sales and even clients.

However, although adopting a more proactive environmental strategies may

also imply additional costs because of the corresponding organisational changes

(Kolk and Pinkse, 2008), activities related to the prevention of the negative

impacts due to climate change have also been seen as a potential source to gain

competitive advantage (Banerjee, 2003) by generating some organizational

capabilities (Hart, 1995; Christmann, 2000; Darnall and Edwards, 2006),

Anticipating and internalizing the appearance of negative environmental impacts

related to global warming might be able to engender the development of a rare,

valuable, and inimitable capability (Barney 1991) that enables companies to

achieve sustainable competitive advantage and based on this achievement, to

simultaneously protect the environment and profit from this environmental

reputation. In this chapter, the analyzed company based in the Spanish hotel

industry exemplifies how being an environmental leader could generate multiple

organizational capabilities in which the company bases its competitive advantage.

3. Environmental Leaders in Hotel Industry.

3.1. Environmental leadership approaches in hotel industry.

Traditionally, most studies addressing companies’ environmental strategies

have been focused on those activities with a more direct impact on the natural

environment such as mining, chemical or other manufacturing sectors. However, in

the last decades this interest has also been expanded toward service industry.

Tourist sector is located in the service industry and specifically hotel industry has

a higher interest in managing environmental issues. Although hotel activity adds a



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smaller amount of pollution than other more pollutant industries (Kirk, 1995), this

sector is taking into account proactive environmental practices related to the

consumption of energy, water, and other resources (Álvarez Gil, Burgos Jiménez,

and Céspedes Lorente, 2001) due to two main motives. On the one hand, despite it

is important to note that environmental legislation is not really stringent in hotel

industry, stakeholders’ pressures and the managerial perception of potential

benefits based on reputational motivations are potential drivers for the adoption

of voluntary environmental practices. For instance, the World Tourism

Organization states that “the development of sustainable tourism responds to the

needs of tourists and the host regions, as well as protecting and improving future

opportunities; it is focused on the management of all resources and therefore satisfies

all economic, social and aesthetic needs, as well as respecting cultural integrity,

essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems”. Thus,

reducing environmental impact may be positively evaluated by “green” consumers

who demand a more environmental concern by companies. In this regard,

environmental voluntary actions may improve hotel image and may become a

source of competitive advantage (Bohdanowicz, 2005). On the other hand, through

the adoption of voluntary environmental programs hotels may reduce cost and

increase their efficiency by minimizing waste and resource consumption.

3.2. Advanced environmental practices in hotel industry as a continuum.

The achievement of a position of environmental leader implies to implement

an environmental proactive strategy. In this sense, it is interesting to indicate the

process that companies would need to follow in order to be considered as

environmental leaders in hotel industry. According to Ayuso (2007), the most

common voluntary sustainable practices which are adopted by hotel companies in

the international panorama are: codes of conduct, best environmental practices,

ecolabels and awards, environmental management systems (EMS), and

environmental performance indicators. Depending on both the level of company’s

commitment with environmental issues and the potential difficulties for the

implementation of these practices, in this chapter it is considered that the adoption

of these voluntary sustainability practices must be understood as a continuum



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which starts from the writing of codes of conducts to the final step that is obtaining

a public recognition via environmental awards.

In the beginning, a company might show its level of environmental

commitment by writing a formal environmental policy and/or its code of

environmental conduct because, unlike the implementation of other advanced

environmental practices which is more complicate and expensive (e.g. obtaining an

environmental certification), companies could easily implement these codes of

environmental conduct. The final step of this continuum is the achievement of

environmental awards because of the external reputation that they conferred.

Figure 1 shows this environmental leaders continuum. The environmental leader

company in hotel industry is that hotel which are able to achieve successfully all

the steps of the process. Thus, the longer the company advances in the continuum,

the greater is that company’s ability to be considered an environmental leader in

hotel industry.

Figure 1: Environmental leaders continuum in hotel industry

Codes of environmental conduct are “public statements that aim to show

commitment to basic principles of environmentally sound (and sustainable) company

performance” (Ayuso, 2007: 147). This instrument is commonly used by companies

because it does not involve any cost and most hotels could adhere to a general

code of conduct promoted by international foundations (e.g. the Spanish

foundation “Network of Companies Committed to the Environment”) or to the

environmental policies published on the websites of hotel chains such as Sol Meliá

Best Environmental Practices and

Environmental Performance Indicators

EMS and environmental certification

Awards

Writing Codes of Environmental

Conduct

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE 4



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or Occidental Hotels and Resorts. Apart from the low effort and cost, the adoption

of a code of conduct may imply some additional benefits derived from facilitating

the access of relevant information and help desk service to the consumer. Although

the environmental commitment of the entire company is absolutely necessary to

ensure the improvement of environmental performance, this commitment needs to

be more than words and it must be translated in real actions. In this sense codes of

environmental conduct are considered as the first step to develop initiatives to

promote the incorporation of advanced environmental practices within the

company.

Best environmental practices are action measures whose objective is to

improve company’s environmental performance. These actions are concreted by

specific activities such as savings in energy and water consumption, waste

management, correct handling and storage of hazardous substances, and control of

atmospheric emissions, water effluents and noise (Ayuso, 2007). These practices

also imply benefits for hotel facilities by improving their operational efficiency and

reducing their costs (Hart and Ahuja, 1996). In most cases, the implementation of

these initiatives responds to pressures by tour operators. For instance, the German

tour operator TUI requests to their partners the water consumption, energy

consumption, and waste production per guest and day (TUI, 2003).

However, these practices take individually do not ensure a real improvement

of environmental performance. Companies need to develop some mechanism for

planning and monitoring these best practices. For this reason several managers

decide to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS). An EMS is a

formal set of articulating goals, making choices, gathering information, measuring

progress and improving performance whit respect to resource use, throughput and

emissions (Florida and Davison, 2001:64). In addition, the implementation of an

EMS could be externally certified by means of the compliance with several

requirements of environmental standards such as ISO14001 or EMAS. The

environmental certification is delimited as the result of an environmentally

proactive process consisting on a third-party audit in charge of the assessment of

the implementation of an EMS within the company. The evident reputational

benefits of implementing and certifying an EMS exists because the accomplishment



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with environmental standards may ease a quickly external comparison among

companies’ commitment to the natural environment by consumers. However

comparing phase 1 and phase 2, this step is more difficult to be implemented by

most hotels for three main reasons. First, for many companies the environmental

certification using ISO 14001 or EMAS standards could be very costly. For instance,

according to the international certifying company SGS, an average Spanish hotel

(less than 50 employees) which decide to implement environmental certification

have to pay €2,790 in the implementation phase, and €795 per year thereafter for

supervision (to check whether implementation of the environmental management

systems is entirely correct). Second, the involvement of hotel management and

staff is a critical factor for success or failure of the EMS implementation (Ayuso,

2007). This means that managers in environmental leader companies need to have

a positive evaluation toward environmental issues (Cordano and Frieze, 2000;

Flannery and May, 2000; González-Benito and González-Benito, 2007) and

interpret facing the environmental challenge as a business opportunity (Sharma,

2000). Thus, since employees see a manager as someone that motivates them and

guides them to meet the company’s goals, it is essential that managers will be able

to lead and coordinate employees, making sure that environmental practices are

completed on time and policies are followed. Finally, the collaboration with

external organisations in charge of waste management or green purchasing is a

critical issue for EMS implementation and its subsequent certification. For

instance, in the Spanish hotel context there is a frequently observed problem about

the difficulty of finding an accurate waste treatment system because in most cases

local authorities have deficient infrastructures and only few suppliers exist in the

emerging waste management market (Ayuso, 2007). Therefore, all these problems

highlight that reaching this third phase of our proposed continuum is an

achievement not available for many hotels.

Finally, although all the prior phases are successfully completed, the

recognition of environmental efforts by customer is essential in order to be

considered an environmental leader. This recognition is translated by means of

awards. Awards mean an external identification that ensures the hotel’s interest on

improving the environmental performance, offering important information to the



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consumer and differentiatin the company over competitors. There are several

specific environmental awards granted to hotels by tour operators (e.g. TUI, Kuoni

and Hotelplan) based on guests’ surveys and direct inspections. Furthermore,

regional authorities and hotel associations also give annual environmental awards

to hotels (Ayuso, 2007).

Therefore, from the initial phase based on the writing of code of

environmental conduct to obtaining an environmental award, hotel companies

have to implement several advance environmental practices which manifest the

company’s concern on environmental issues. Environmental leader companies will

be able to accomplish all the process.

4. A case study of environmental leaders: “El Fuerte Hotels” Group.

In this section, this chapter highlights what occurs in the practical scope,

using a case study based on the business/entrepreneurial group “El Fuerte Hotels”.

The renowned environmentally friendly and society-orientated management

style of “El Fuerte Hotels” has allowed to carve a solid position in Spanish and

international markets. Thus, this business orientation makes this case a good

representative of environmental leader company in the Spanish hotel industry.

The analyzed business group is grounded more than 50 years of experience

in hotel industry and formed with 100% Andalusian investment, made up of a

team of almost one thousand employees, spread out over our different corporative

areas: (1) the hotel division, with six hotels in Andalusia (south of Spain); (2) the

property development division, with a development on the eastern Costa Del Sol;

(3) an agricultural division, with land in Estepa (Seville); (4) a design and interior

design studio, which serves both the group and third parties, and a Foundation

(Fundación Fuerte), through which the group carries out its social activities. In

addition, “El Fuerte Hotels” group is currently working on new projects, such as

the development of a hotel complex in Montego Bay (Jamaica), an apartment-hotel

in La Herradura (Granada) and the residential hotel division with a Holiday Club.

With regard to the proposed continuum that might guide an environmental

leader company in hotel industry, “El Fuerte Hotels” complies with the explained

four phases because of its great sustainability commitment. This fact means that



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the business activity of the group is on a balanced and constant search for

economic development, environmental integrity and social well-being, what is

translated in the achievement of environmental leadership within the hotel

industry. In following sections we are going to highlight how “El Fuerte Hotels”

carries out the proposed continuum through the four explained phases.

4.1. Code of environmental conduct in “El Fuerte Hotels”.

First, related to codes of conduct, the mission of the company is delimited

such as “Caring for People and the Environment”. One of the main objectives of the

company is being committed to respect for the environment as a quality standard.

In addition, “El Fuerte Hotels” group has a clearly delimited policy and ethical code

that defines the principles and the way it conducts its business activities. This code

of ethics and behaviour is based on the company’s values and should be the point

of reference for all workers belonging to “El Fuerte Hotels”, especially those who

hold management posts. Pertaining to this code of conduct, the third principle is

concerning environmental issues.

Environmental Code of conduct of “El Fuerte Hotels” Group

By respecting the environment we show our respect for

others. The natural environment belongs to all of us, and by

respecting it we show our consideration for others. Concern

for the environment must always be a base on which to build

good relationships. In our company we are always especially

concerned with conserving energy and water.

With this explicit code of conduct the group tries to transmit sustainable

development values at all corporative level such as its commitment to pollution

prevention, continuous improvement and compliance with the regulation and

green consumers’ demands.

4.2. Environmental practices in “El Fuerte Hotels”.

The implementation of environmental practices is an active task for “El

Fuerte Hotels” in order to improve their environmental performance. Table 1

shows in detail some of the most significant environmental activities of the group.



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Table 1: Environmental actions of “El Fuerte Hotels”

1. Building and installations with minimal environmental impact

1. Incorporated in the area’s natural habitat. 2. Reduction in tarmac areas. 3. Use of native plants. 4. Maximisation of green areas. 5. Avoiding chemical fertilisers, insecticides and herbicides. 6. Parking areas are surrounded and hidden by hedges and trees.

2. Saving in energy and water consumption

1. Progressive substitution of traditional lighting for energy saving lighting. 2. Installation of reactive energy compensators. 3. Control of energy consumption with computer controlled systems. 4. Temperature regulators in rooms. 5. Water quality control. 6. Installation of automatic lighting systems with cards in the bedrooms. 7. Providing information to guests and staff regarding energy saving measures. 8. Double-glazing in outside doors and windows, resulting in energy savings in central heating and air conditioning. 9. Automatic disconnection system for the air conditioning when opening the doors and windows to the terraces in rooms. 10. Computer controlled clean hot and cold-water production system. 11. Use of refrigerating gases in accordance with current legislation for the protection of the ozone layer. 12. Ecological flush systems in WC cisterns. 13. Kitchen’s staff is instructed to wash vegetables in pans whenever possible and to use dishwashers on maximum capacity. 14. Provided information on ways of saving water in the bathrooms. 15. Towels and bedclothes are changed when guests ask for it. 16. Plants and gardens are watered with drip systems and micro aspersion.

17. Sensor lights in outside areas (activated and deactivated with natural light). 18. Boilers have control thermostats, helping to save energy. 19. Solar panels to provide hotels with hot water and central heating.

3. Waste management

1. Preference for products with minimal packaging. 2. Use of Ecological paper. 3. Use of recyclable and/or returnable packaging. 4. Separate oil, glass, paper, battery, and organic waste collection. 5. We avoid buying products in non-returnable packaging in small or individual portions. 6. Promotion of products in glass containers, rather than metal, and paper rather than plastic. 7. We avoid purchasing doubly wrapped food products. 8. We use refillable or reusable containers for serving food. 9. We use environmental mineral salt chlorination systems in the swimming pools 10. Computer products are collected by a specialised recycling company.



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11. Recycled computer materials (ink cartridges, toners…). 12. The company uses e-mail to avoid wasting paper. 13. Correct management of dangerous wastes by authorised sources 14. Composting of vegetable waste (from pruning and kitchen waste) 15. We use paper card and organic waste compactors. 16. Detergents and cleaning products made in an ecological fashion.

4. Additional environmental services.

1. Offering ecological food and drinks. 2. Offering outings and activities that respect the environment. 3. Environmental trips around the hotel to raise client awareness 4. Promotion of environmental transport: bicycle hire, hiking …

First, environmental concern is taking into account from the beginning of the

hotel activity, when the analyzed group decides where to physically locate their

buildings. “El Fuerte Hotels” assesses the level of integration of their hotels into the

landscape, paying attention to how the construction of the buildings keeps with the

surrounding environment. The objective is that the architecture minimizes the

visual impact on its immediate surroundings

Second, related to the operational activity the group promotes savings on

energy and water consumption, by incorporating renewable resources and new

production technology which are cleaner and imply a more environmentally

responsible behavior.

Third, additionally the group carries out an advanced waste management to

contribute to minimize the impact of the generated waste through some specific

collection system and by promoting the use of recycled and ecological materials.

Finally, the group also offers additional services in order to show its

environmental commitment. For instance, the hotel offers ecological food and

drinks which is demanded for those tourists who opt for ecological dishes due to

their taste, healthiest and organoleptic properties.

However, to be sure that these activities are something more than words, it is

necessary an internal monitoring through objective measures that asses the

environmental impact of the company. In this sense, the ecological footprint and

the responsible behaviour are the main initiatives that show best environmental

practices that are used by the group. First, the ecological footprint of the hotel is

calculated using the square metre per guest of productive land required by a

company to carry out its activities, which covers both the consumption of



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resources as well as occupation of land and waste generated that the natural

environment is able to assimilate. For instance, several considered indicators for

the calculation of the footprint are the hotel’s surface area (consisting of green

areas and gardens in hectares), floor area, consumption of electrical energy, diesel,

propane, water, and other fuels. All these indicators are environmental

performance measures in business activity of each hotel which assess the

improvements on their environmental performance. Second, other indicator is the

“responsible behavior” which assesses a series of key attributes related to

responsible management such as the integration into the surroundings, the

percentage of local suppliers or fair trade products at the hotel.

In addition, in order to monitor the effectiveness of these practices, “El Fuerte

Hotels” have showed a special interest in knowing the impressions and opinions of

their customer. With this objective the group has promoted the website

“responsiblehotels.travel” in which travellers motivated by green tourism could

made two main activities: on the one hand, to participate and to give their opinion

about their experiences in environmentally responsible hotels; on the other hand,

to select and to book hotels that are respectful to the environment at reasonable

prices. By using this initiative, guests could share their experiences in responsible

hotels, assessing the “responsible score” of the hotel trough four main indicators:

environment (corporative ecological footprint), culture (authenticity), customer

satisfaction (quality and responsible perception) and responsible management

(responsible behavior).

4.3. Certifying environmental management system in “El Fuerte Hotels”.

In order to achieve excellence, “El Fuerte Hotels” group pays special attention

to all of the processes involved in its service. Internal and external audits certify

that the analyzed company continues to meet quality and environmental standards

of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Specifically, “El Fuerte

Hotels” has implemented and has certified both EMSs and quality management

systems (QMS) in each of the hotels that composed the business/entrepreneurial

group. Through ISO 9001, the international environmental standards for certifying

the quality management system, and through ISO 14001, the international



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environmental standards for certifying EMS, the group shows its concern both

quality and environmental protection. In addition, managers of “El Fuerte Hotels”

consider that these types of management systems have many advantages, mainly

at a competitive level, because through external certification the company could

comply with both client satisfaction and the conservation of natural resources

along with the reduction of negative environmental impacts in the course of daily

business. Focused on the environment, managers consider that the

implementation and certification of an EMS allow carrying out continuous

improvement measures for various environmental issues, as well as there being a

structured management and monitoring its management and its objectives

4.4. Environmental awards in “El Fuerte Hotels”.

Over the years, “El Fuerte Hotels” has gained prestige, trust and the

admiration of guest, suppliers, and including competitors, what is a the main signal

of being a leader company. One the most important awards obtained by the group

is the Andalusia Tourism Award granted in 2006 by the regional government in the

category of excellence management due to be the regional leader in the tourist

sector for incentivizing employees’ training, watching over the client’s satisfaction,

and promoting the environment’s protection within business activity.

Moreover, related to environmental issues, most of the hotels of the group

have been awarded by several tour operators (e.g. TUI, Thomas Cook, Thomson

Holidays) and by organizations interested in the protection of the environment

(e.g. National Geography). The last award obtained has been the TUI

Environmental Champion (TUI Umwelt) in 2010 granted by the tour operator TUI

to the Fuerte Conil Hotel for its sustainable management and environmental

proactivity. This award listed the Fuerte Conil Hotel in the sixth position of the

world best hotel environmental management ranking. The hotel “Fuerte Rompido

Suites” are in the twenty-eighth position in the same ranking. In addition, Table 2

shows several awards achieved by the group’s hotels. Therefore, all these external

recognitions bring to light how the environmental efforts of the company have

been rewarded.



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Table 2: Environmental Awards of “El Fuerte Hotels”.

Hotels of the

group

Environmental Awards

Fuerte Marbella • TUI Umwelt Champion (2006, 2007) • TUI Holly (2005) • National Geographic published: “This hotel is an example of

the Spanish positive evolution” Fuerte Conil • TUI Holly (2001-2003; 2005-2007)

• TUI Umwelt Champion (from 2001 to 2010) Fuerte Grazalema

• TUI Umwelt Champion (2006, 2007) • TUI Holly (2005)

Fuerte CostaLuz • TUI Umwelt Champion (2008) • Neckermann Primo Award by tour operator Thomas Cook

(2007, 2008) Fuerte Rompido • TUI Umwelt Champion (from 2006 to 2010)

5. Conclusions.

In this chapter it has been explained how environmentally leader companies

are those environmental proactive companies that are not only able to accurately

internalise the upcoming environmental requirements but also to base their

competitive advantage in current environmental concerns. In this sense, taking

into account climate change within the company’s decision-making may become a

source of competitive advantage for these environmental leaders to the extent that

the initiatives, practices and activities that companies develop to face global

warning may generate some capabilities that improve their operational efficiency

and may serve to differentiate themselves from the rest of competitors.

In this chapter, the attention is focused on a specific industry with an

increasing interest in environmental issues: the hotel industry. Despite hotel

activity is less pollutant than other industries, hotel managers have identified

environmental concern as a potential source of competitive advantage. In this

sense, hotels may implement different environmental activities which differ in

their degree of environmental commitment as well as in their facility to be

performed. Thus, these proactive environmental activities may be considered as a

continuum ranging from an initial phase based on the writing of code of

environmental conduct to a final phase based on the gaining of an environmental

award. As hotel companies are able to advance in this continuum, they are closer to



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be considered as an environmental leader. An example about how a hotel may

become an environmental leader is “El Fuerte Hotels” group. The hotels belong to

“El Fuerte” group are leaders in environmental management because its business

philosophy is based on the idea that “El Fuerte” is not just a hotel business, but also

its managers always consider life, nature and the air before anything else. Through

and advance environmental program hotels belonging to “El Fuerte” has been

internationally recognized by the acquisition of several awards. This gaining of

notoriety within a really competitive industry have allowed to the group to be able

to not only survive in the current difficult economic situation to other groups with

more financial resources –such as NH hotels, Sol Meliá or AC hotels, but also be

able to grow by building a new hotel in 2010. In this sense the increasing

environmental concern, due to environmental problems such as the global

warming, has supposed an opportunity instead a threat for this group. The case of

“El Fuerte Hotels” may serve as an example to other companies about how

although taking an advance environmental strategy may imply higher cost and

effort, it also may report substantial benefits.

Acknowledgments

This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (project ECO2009-09241) and the Regional Government of Andalusia (project P06-SEJ-2356). The authors want to thank the members of the research group “Innovation, Sustainability and Business Development” for their help and comments. In addition, the authors want to sincerely acknowledge the book’s editors for offering the chance of writing this chapter and theirs beneficial suggestions.



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Spanish Hotel Industry Leadership on Climate Change Mitigation

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